Slam Dunk 2nd Year
by Mr. Buddha
Summary: The second year has come! New faces, new challenges for our rough boys from Shohoku! Three new members...how will they affect the team? And an unexpected twist...stay tuned to find out! D
1. The Old and the New

Chapter 1

The Old and the New

He could still hear the ball going through the net almost three months ago. And although Hanamichi Sakuragi wanted to play basketball again, he couldn't.

"Sir, you have to stay still! You can't play yet!"

There he was, the great self-proclaimed "tensai," genius, bed-ridden in a hospital miles away from his hometown district of Kanagawa. He hated being cooped up in a room while all of his teammates in the Shohoku High School Basketball Club were busy playing the sport that he loved almost as much as life itself: basketball. Over the course of less than a year, he was turned from a greenhorn to what he alls himself as the "Basketball Man." And in his thought, he constantly improved his skills, strengthening his hold on both the Power Forward and the Center positions. This, of course, he needs to back up once the annual Prefectural Games begin.

"Nooo! Let me out! I want to play!" Sakuragi wailed as he nailed one of the male nurses with his patented head butt. In a loud thud, the nurse crashed into a heap. The moment he saw another coming towards him, he shouted, saying, "The next person who touches me gets a head butt!" He felt a hand on his shoulder, and, true to his word, he hit him with that vicious shot to the head the moment he pulled the person in front of him.

"Now that's too much!"

It was a voice he was all too familiar with. It was one of his Guntai, Yohei Mito. And when he looked at the floor, it was another member of his army, Takamiya.

"Hanamichi, you lug head!" Takamiya groaned from the floor.

"Yeah, if it was Haruko who held you, she'd be decapitated by now," Mito joked.

"Hey, I'm stuck here in this hospital and this place is driving me insane," Sakuragi replied.

"Heck, you don't need this place for you to be insane," Takamiya sniggered.

Another head butt.

Mito shook his head. "Want us to boost you from this place, Hanamichi?"

"You'd do that for me?"

"In your dreams, Hanamichi." Mito rolled her eyes. "I can't believe you're that thick."

Laughter.

"By the way, how's the back?"

"It's getting better by the day…I think."

Mito suddenly turned serious. "What was the doctor's diagnosis?"

"Just overstretched back muscles."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah…that's a good thing since I can get back earlier than most people might expect."

"Are you sure?"

"They were just overstretched, got it?" Sakuragi shouted. It was a long time since he shouted at his Guntai, much more Yohei Mito.

"Fine, be that way," Mito replied with a sigh.

Meanwhile, back in Kanagawa, the Shohoku team resumed their practice already. The new team captain, Ryota Miyagi, was already implementing his rule on the team. And of course, there were the freshmen, who were actually outnumbering the seniors this year, the first time it happened in a long time.

"Now, I'm assuming you're all here since you're trying to ride the success of last year's team," Miyagi began. "If all you want is a quick ride to fame, get out."

Strangely, one of the participants went out the door.

"Err…that was easy," Ayako, the team manager said.

"Idiot."

The voice came from Kaede Rukawa, the ace of Shohoku. He walked towards Miyagi and, after a slight nod to acknowledge each other's presence, stood behind his Captain. As soon as he faced the first years, there was a great deal of murmuring that began.

"What are you all murmuring about?" Miyagi shouted.

Silence.

"Ten laps around the court, NOW!"

As the freshmen grumbled about, a familiar female voice spoke behind Ayako. "Miyagi's got it into gear this year, hasn't he?" It was Haruko, the younger sister of former Shohoku player and team captain, Takenori Akagi.

"Haruko!" Ayako hugged the new co-team manager. "How's Senior Akagi?"

"He's fine. He's concentrating on his studies since he was cut from the university's first team but he's still constantly refining his skills, playing in the minor leagues in team B."

"That's good to hear, Haruko-san," a soft mellow voice spoke behind them. When everyone turned to see who it was, they saw a white haired man who wore round glasses and has a big grin on his face. It was Mitsuyoshi Anzai, Shohoku's coach. As he spoke, he walked towards Miyagi while surveying the running freshmen. "Aaah…we have a lot of freshmen this year. They look like a lively bunch," Coach chuckled.

"Yes, sir," Miyagi smiled.

"Ho! Ho! Ho! I'll leave everything to you today, Miyagi-san."

"Everybody! Line up in front."

The first years ran to the front of the upperclassmen in the gym. Each of them looked spunky in their own way. The students started giving their names. Although most of them were pretty normal students, it started to get interesting when they got to one of the taller students in the line. He was a bit comparable in height with one of the former players, Hisashi Mitsui. And since this kid was only a freshman, Miyagi and the other seniors knew that this kid could grow taller in the upcoming years.

"Hideaki Mitsuoka, 185cm, I can play both guard and forward positions, and I am from Jan-Jiei Junior High."

Miyagi spoke first. "Since when have you been playing basketball?"

"For the better part of ten years or so," Mitsuoka replied. "But you probably wouldn't have known me since I have been riding the bench in junior high. But I'm hoping that it will change in this team."

Miyagi looked impressed. Looks we got our replacement for Mitsui, he thought.

After three more students, another noteworthy freshman stood out. He was a bit shorter than Miyagi but the upperclassmen sensed the strong fighting spirit within him. "You're a bit small, aren't you?" one of the other freshmen spoke from the end of the line.

The freshman stepped in front. "My name is Kai Yoshihiko, 164cm, and I can play both guard positions."

"We could use another point guard to back you up," Ayako whispered.

"Back-up…but he isn't taking my spot," Miyagi chuckled softly.

Suddenly, the door of the gym slid open with a bang. A student rushed to the end of the line, wiping his brow as he breathed deeply. He was tall, probably as tall as Sakuragi or Rukawa. But there was something familiar with this student, and it was striking both Miyagi and Rukawa as both shocking and odd.

"You, the one who just arrived, introduced yourself," Miyagi said. In the back of his mind, Miyagi already knew who this was. He just needed confirmation.

"Umm…Shinji Maki…"

The entire gym went silent.

"Maki? As in…" Rukawa said in disbelief.

"Yes," Shinji said. "I am Shin-ichi Maki's brother."


	2. The Return of Tensai

Chapter 2

The Return of Tensai

The way back to Kanagawa was a bit surreal for Sakuragi. For three months, he was stuck there in the four corners of that room and just being outside felt really good and refreshing.

"So, how does freedom feel?" Yohei asked gleefully.

"I really need to get to a basketball court right now, Yohei," Sakuragi said as he started to do a shooting motion with his hand.

"Hanamichi, you can't. You need to rest for at least two to three weeks. The team needs you for the games, you know that."

"Fine, at least give me a basketball to hold."

"Later, when we get to the station."

For the next hour, Hanamichi continued to do his shooting motion while staring out blankly at the passing landscape. It was unusual for him to stay that way. So, Yohei and Takamiya decided to cheer him up.

"Hey Hanamichi, ready to do some slam dunks when you get back?" Takamiya asked.

When he turned around, Sakuragi had a large smile plastered on his face. "Shohoku will welcome back its number one ace! The Tensai Basket Man, Hanamichi Sakuragi! Mwahahahahahaha!"

Just you wait, Rukawa, Sakuragi thought. I will beat you once and for all!

"You're Shin-ichi Maki's brother?"

These words echoed throughout the gym. All of the upper classmen and even the other freshmen were in shock to hear that in front of them was the younger brother of Kanagawa's #1 player.

"Go on, go on," Coach Anzai smiled.

"Shinji Maki, 189cm, I can play all the positions on the court."

"Why here and not Kainan or any other school for that matter?" Miyagi asked.

"Two reasons: Coach Anzai," Everyone looked to the smiling coach. "…and Hanamichi Sakuragi."

"Say what!" Ayako exclaimed. Everyone followed suit.

"I want to play alongside one of the best big men in the prefecture…at least to my brother's opinion."

"Did he just describe Sakuragi?" Yasuda asked Miyagi.

"I guess he did," Miyagi shrugged.

Out of nowhere, a ball went flying straight at Shinji. In one move, he caught the ball with one hand and spun it on his finger. Everyone looked to where the ball came from and saw Rukawa.

"Idiot. He's just dumb and big…" Rukawa smirked.

"Say what?" Shinji took one step towards him.

All Rukawa did was turn around and run towards the basket. When he reached the free throw line, he jumped and flew through the air to do a dunk. What happened next was both astonishing and scary at the same time. Out of nowhere, Shinji came from behind and swatted the ball out of the hands of Rukawa. This elicited a collective gasp from the team since nobody actually noticed Shinji run towards him. But, as they came down, both of them sprawled onto the hardwood of the gym floor.

The entire team rushed to the two of them and helped them both up. "Now you know, Rukawa," Shinji said. "This isn't your team."

Sakuragi crashed onto his bed. His very own bed. Even through all the events that had happened to him, this was still home sweet home for him. As he began to dream, he felt he was back on the court, shooting jump shots, making the common shot, and blocking shots. He loved basketball, and there was nothing that could stop him from playing again.

The next day, Sakuragi went straight to the community court. When he got there, he saw a familiar face shooting on the court.

"Megane-kun!" Sakuragi exclaimed. It was Kiminobu Kogure, Shohoku's vice captain a year ago.

"Sakuragi! When did you get back?"

"Oh, yesterday." Sakuragi beamed.

As they were talking, Kogure saw the basketball clutched in Sakuragi's hand. "You're not thinking of playing, are you? You're supposed to be injured."

"Of course not! You know why? Because I am Tensai! Nyahahahahaha!"

It never fails, Kogure thought. "Pass me the ball."

"Hmm?"

"Pass."

Sakuragi made a chest pass to Kogure. Once he caught it, Kogure pulled up and did a perfect jump shot. There was only one problem though: it rattled out of the rim.

"Er…that should have gone in," Kogure laughed. When he turned to Sakuragi, he was a bit surprised to see Hanamichi asking for the ball.

"Pass."

Kogure picked up the ball and did a bounce pass. Once Sakuragi caught it, his mind immediately transported him back to his last game with Shohoku in the Inter-High against Sannoh. That last shot, with three seconds left on the clock, was Sakuragi's finest hour. And just like that shot, he did the same move on the court. It was the exact copy as the ball went through the net with only a swish as its sound.

"That never fails to amaze me." Kogure breathed.

"Why don't we settle this on the court, freshmen against seniors," Ayako said to ease the tension around Shinji and Rukawa.

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea," Miyagi mused. "With your permission, of course, Anzai-sensei."

"Certainly," Anzai smiled. "This will be good for the team."

With that, Ayako turned to the team. "Well, you heard them, form into teams!"

Everyone went to opposite corners of the gym. To the left, Miyagi and the seniors huddled together as they discussed strategy. "Alright, we're a bit shorthanded here considering that there are three of them that we have to watch out for." Miyagi spoke. "Rukawa, you're taking Shinji. Show him how Shohoku really plays basketball. I'm taking Kai."

"What about Mitsuoka?" Shiozaki asked.

"You and Yasuda will mark him."

A whistle from Ayako signaled the teams to go to the center. "Okay boys, I want every player here to be in one piece afterwards, okay?"

However, Rukawa wasn't listening. There was only one line in his mind.

"Shinji, you're going down!"

After Sakuragi finished a few jump shots, lay-ups, and dunks, he was feeling good about himself, bordering on cocky and arrogant, that he was ready to go back to practice. However, as he made his way to the nearby fountain, a shadow from the distance approached him. "Feeling up to a little one-on-one?"

It was Akagi.

"Gori?"

And he got a large fist come down on his head for his actions. "Ouch! You're going to re-injure Shohoku's ace!"

"Idiot! When will you ever learn?"

"I know everything there is to know already!" Sakuragi boasted.

"Then show me." Akagi grinned.

"Bring it on, Gori," Sakuragi smiled.


	3. First FaceOff

Chapter 3

First Face-Off

Prrrrtttt!

As the whistle blew, the game began. The tip-off was between Shinji and Rukawa and since Rukawa was the better jumper, he managed to tap the ball towards Miyagi.

"Fast break!"

As soon as Rukawa landed, he ran towards their goal. Miyagi threaded the needle with a bullet pass between two unsuspecting freshmen. The ball went exactly into the waiting hands of Rukawa. But when he jumped up to do a dunk, Shinji came flying out of nowhere intent on denying Rukawa an easy dunk.

"Oh no you don't!" Shinji shouted.

"Try and stop me," Rukawa glared as he jammed in the ball. Shinji's hand was late and hit Rukawa on the arm. It didn't matter; Rukawa slammed the ball with ease.

"Basket counts! Foul, Red, number 9!" Ayako shouted. He's better than before he left for the All-Japan team, she thought.

"Damn," Shinji breathed as Rukawa stepped up to the free throw line.

"You can't stop him alone," Mitsuoka said as he passed Shinji.

"What's on your mind?"

"Double team?"

"Miyagi's mine, remember that," Kai said as he overheard their discussion.

"Let's do this," Shinji said as they Rukawa sank the free throw.

The other freshman inbounded the ball to Yoshi. He played the point as they pressed forward to the other end.

"Set the pick!" Yoshi shouted.

Miyagi was guarding Yoshi and his eyes never left the face. He had a habit of going into a sort of zone wherein there was only Miyagi and the person he was guarding, in this case, Yoshi. Mitsuoka went beside Miyagi to set a pick for Yoshi. He went right since Mitsuoka prevented Miyagi from following him. As soon as they saw that Miyagi was baited in, he went straight for the left side.

"What!" Miyagi exclaimed.

Yoshi went straight for the basket and pulled up for a jumper from the free throw line. Rukawa jumped to attempt to block him and was nearly successful, had it not been for Yoshi's quick thinking.

"Sorry freshman," Rukawa breathed.

"No, sorry, Rukawa," Yoshi smiled.

What is he talking about? Rukawa thought.

Then, from behind Rukawa, a shadow rose up. It was Shinji. With a flick of the wrist, Yoshi flipped the ball over Rukawa's outstretched fingers and in a smooth motion; Shinji caught the ball and completed the alley-oop.

"Nice throw." Shinji and Mitsuoka high-fived Yoshi.

Damn, Rukawa thought.

"Easy guys!" Miyagi said as he brought the ball down the court. These freshmen just eluded our ace, Miyagi thought to himself. This is going to be good.

When he crossed the half court line, Miyagi saw Rukawa asking for the ball. Want to get even huh? Miyagi laughed to himself. "That's right, show them how we play around here."

The moment Rukawa held the ball in his hands, he was immediately met with a double team by Shinji and Mitsuoka.

"What the!"

"That's it!" Akagi exclaimed as Sakuragi nailed his new shot, the fade-away. "Back down, turn, and step back!"

"Yeah, I can do it!" Sakuragi laughed out loud. "I really am tensai, aren't I Gori? Nyahahahahaha!"

That remains to be seen, Akagi thought. But he really is something…

Akagi began to walk out of the park. "Where are you going?" Sakuragi scratched his head as he picked up the ball.

"There is one place where we can test out your new shots and hopefully see if you're in tiptop condition, which I doubt you are," Akagi slowly said, his back to Sakuragi.

"Umm…where?" Sakuragi asked.

"Shohoku…I heard they are having a pick-up game there…seniors against the freshmen…and from what I hear," Akagi smirked, "Maki's brother is playing there this very moment."

"What? Old man's brother is there? Let's go!"

Sakuragi ran the rest of the way to the gym.

"Blocked!"

The seniors were dumbfounded when Mitsuoka and Shinji both jumped and swatted Rukawa's shot away. This was the story all day; the freshmen were leading by a considerably large margin over the heavily favored, yet strangely overmatched, upper classmen.

"Time out, seniors!" Haruko shouted. Even she was a bit shocked to see the seniors trail by twenty points outright.

"They're really good!" Shiozaki breathed as they huddled during the time-out.

"We can see that, Shio," Yasuda calmly said "They shut down Miyagi, and even their double team has succeeded against Rukawa."

"Quiet!" shouted Miyagi. "We are not going down this easy! It's fifteen seconds to halftime, so we cut their lead to at least below fifteen points! We can do it!"

The whistle blew and the players made their way to the court once more. "Captain," Rukawa said. "Pass me the ball."

"But they'd double team you!"

"I can do it."

"Make sure of that!" Miyagi said as they resumed play with the upper classmen having possession. Yasuda immediately inbounded to Miyagi who made a bullet pass to Rukawa just outside the three point arc. Like a pack of wolves, Mitsuoka and Shinji were instantly on him. Before they could react, Rukawa jumped up and shot a three pointer above the key.

Too fast! Shinji thought.

"Perfect," Coach Anzai smiled.

The ball went in, hitting nothing but net. There was a collective gasp as it was the rare occasions in the game Rukawa managed to shoot an uncontested shot. The freshmen were unfazed and they passed the ball to Shinji. However, Rukawa's hand snuck into the passing lane and he managed a steal which he then converted to a pass to a wide-open Miyagi in the corner. Miyagi heaved the ball and the ball bounced on the rim before trickling down for another three points. The score was now 50 to 36. Shinji grew impatient and heaved the ball to Yoshi but the sloppy pass was intercepted by Miyagi. This time, it was Ryota who passed to Rukawa from the elbow of the arc to make another three pointer with only a second to spare. As the whistle sounded, the shot went sailing in, cutting the deficit to a meager 11 points.

"Nice teamwork!" Kakuta exclaimed as the first half came to an end.

"Teamwork!" a voiced roared from the direction of the doorway. "If you had teamwork, you wouldn't allow first years to push you around!"

It was Akagi and behind him, stepped a familiar red head. It was Sakuragi. "Oh boy," Miyagi laughed. "The tensai is back."

"Let's get this show on the road!" Sakuragi said as he donned one of the senior's uniforms. "Beware first years, nobody messes with the seniors!"


End file.
